Alpine News

Ford Sayre Academy alumnus and sophomore sensation at Castleton State, Matt Couture, was officially honored as the USCSA ECSC MacConnell Division Skier of the Year following an impressive regular season.

Couture raced to top-ten finishes in every event throughout the season and finished fifth or better in eight of ten races as well. This included three victories and two additional podium results en route to earning the top spot in the ECSC MacConnell Division individual standings with 585 points. Couture is the first Spartan to earn Skier of the Year in the MacConnell Division since the team moved to the division prior to the 2012 ski season.

The Castleton team has advanced to the national championships taking place this week in Bend,  OR.

The Hanover Historical Society is sponsoring a showing of the film, Passion for Snow, on Wednesday, Feb. 25th, at 7 pm, in the Mayer Room of the Howe Library. Please spread the word to friends and family, and join us.

Passion for Snow, produced by the Dartmouth College Class of 1965, tells about the role that Dartmouth College, the town of Hanover, and the Ford Sayre program played in developing the U.S. ski industry. The film covers: the beginning of collegiate skiing in 1910; the development of current day ski racing techniques like the slalom (1925), downhill (1927), and giant slalom (1937); the start of the Winter Olympics; the founding/developing of most major US Ski Resorts; the U.S. Army Mountain troops in WW II; and the training of disabled skiers.  With old film footage, new interviews and period music, the film shows how Dartmouth and Hanover utilized their fortunate placement in snow country to have a phenomenal influence over winter activities worldwide.

The film was nominated for an Emmy and won the Outdoor Writers’ Association First Place award as Ski History Film of the Year.

More info about the movie

Ford Sayre Alpine Racing Team skiers set the stage for their upcoming NHARA State Qualifiers with top finishes in the Bob Skinner Cup Giant Slalom at Mount Sunapee on Sunday, January 25. Lainie Taylor led the way for the Ford Sayre girls, winning the U14 class by over two seconds. Ford Sayre’s Pepper Joseph, Maya Holmes, Ellie Stannard, and Katie Stannard all packed in the top ten at fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth respectively. Siena Curtis nabbed her best result to date with a third place finish among the U12 girls, ahead of teammates Molly Hackett, Anna Testorf, Lilly Clapp, and Ella Goodney who finished fifth, eighth, ninth and tenth.

For the Ford Sayre boys, Kyle Rozzi had the top result, taking second in the U14 boys class. Former Ford Sayre and current Cardigan Mountain racer Seth Gray grabbed fourth ahead of Ford Sayre’s Josh Chu. Eric Goodney and Jack Loftus each rode two strong runs to finish seventh and eighth. In the U12 boys class, Camden Dwyer tallied the best result in fourth, ahead of teammates Courtland Doyle, Jack Ross, Forster Goodrich and Connor Hamlin in fifth, seventh, eighth, and tenth.

In another race, the Ford Sayre U14 girls placed five in the top ten at the Tina Sutton Memorial SL at Loon Mountain. Riley Craft placed 5th followed by Willa Mcgough 6th, Maia Garfield 8th, Isla Cotter 9th and Lucy Doyle 10th. James Healy skied to a 7th place finish for the Ford Sayre U14 boys.

Ford Sayre U12 and U14 racers will all compete at Sunapee this Sunday for the first of three New Hampshire State Championship qualifiers.

Ford Sayre Academy U16 and U18 skiers competed in the Tecnica Cup at the Dartmouth Skiway on Sunday, January 25th.  Three of Ford Sayre’s girls placed in the top ten.  Wren Smith placed 5th, Sadie Lingelbach-Pierce 6th and Caitlin Blinkhorn came in 8th.  On the boy’s side, Ford Sayre Academy skier Brian Seltzer captured 2nd place with a total time of 1:11.30.

Link to Flickr photo album

Thanks to Tihana Strnad for these photos!

Ford Sayre Academy just returned from their annual Thanksgiving training camp in Colorado.  Lots of dryland conditioning, on-snow training, then more dryland conditioning.  And of course homework in the evenings.  A great time was had by all!